


I am Daredevil

by Pikkulef



Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 05:15:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8877412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pikkulef/pseuds/Pikkulef
Summary: Karen's immediate reaction to Matt's big reveal.





	

**Author's Note:**

> It seems I have a thing for writing stuff that happens right at the end of a show/season. It doesn't add much to anything here, but I love them too much not to write it. 
> 
> I have had this lying around for ages, so why not ? The new pics had me thinking about getting back to it. As always I tend to write shorts that can stand alone on themselves so IDK. 
> 
> Please once again keep in mind I am not a native speaker and I have no beta... and writing in present tense ain't really my forte. Thought it's what felt best.

“I am Daredevil.”  
A sharp intake of breath.  No spike in her heartbeat – it’s already full speed. And that’s all.

The silence drags on and on. Not really silence for Matt, it’s never silence for Matt. But now all he can hear is this fast heartbeat and this contrived breathing. Karen’s.  The rest doesn’t exist. There was a time when this was the rhythm of his life, when he couldn’t wait to hear it. To push this door as he had done just a minute ago, and hear her heartbeat, or better, her voice; smell her scent, wait for one of those not so accidental brushes of her hand against his. This seemed such a long time ago, now.

He hasn’t moved, hand extended, still holding the helmet. His helmet. Daredevil’s helmet.

It isn’t really silence for Karen either. That same heartbeat Matt clearly hears from where he stands is raging in her ears. She is shocked, but not quite as much as she ought to be. For she knew. The realization hits her. Of course she knew. That hand on her face. That voice when the Devil had asked her if she was okay – and these lips, please. He’d talked to her, and only her – of course they had crossed paths before, but at that time, in the middle of all this? Even before. Small things. Suspicions. But of course, there were obvious reasons for her to doubt. Reasons she used to avoid the question, because Matt clearly wasn’t going to tell her anything. And yet, here he is. Eventually.

She tries to steady her breathing, slowly. If she doesn’t, she won’t be able to utter a word. After seconds, maybe minutes there, not moving, she opens her mouth. She could swear she has just seen Matt’s chin tremble slightly. So the only thing that she manages to get out is a faint, tired: “Oh, Matt…”

She sighs heavily and reaches for the helmet, taking it from his hand. She clearly sees Matt recoil slightly – not because he doesn’t want to let it go, but more as if he was afraid she’d throw it at his face. Which she considers for a second; then she retreats near her old desk, helmet – more mask – in hand. Studying it. A quick glance at Matt tells her he’s got his bearings back. Well, enough of them.  She sits on the desk, eyes back on the helmet.

Matt lets some time pass. She hasn’t said anything else. Her breathing is slower now, easier. Her heart is still fast, but not as fast as it was when he had opened the door. Not as fast as his, for that matters.

“You’re… You’re not mad?” He immediately regrets letting this slip. What is he, a child?  
That’s exactly what Karen is thinking. He does look and sound like a child right now. She doesn’t know if she wants to hug him or slap him for it.  
“Matt,” she has a disheartened chuckle. “I’ve been mad for months. I can’t really be more than I already am. It is tiring, you know. I have had other, more pressing things to care about than your never ending secret shenanigans. I thought it clear.” She tries to keep a dry tone, tries to make him think she believes entirely what she is saying.  
He can’t repress a little tilt of his head when he catches her heart finally skip a beat. And heat rise in her cheeks. She’s blushing.  
“Foggy was mad. Really mad.  
“Foggy kn-”. She sighs, again. He can hear one of her hands slap against the desk. “Of course Foggy knows. Why me, then, suddenly? Why now?  
“For Foggy, it was an accident. I had not intended to tell him. But you, I want to tell you myself before… anything like this… happens.” The knuckles on the hand that grasps his folded cane are white. He looks like he’s trying very hard not to crush the paperbag he’s holding with the other.  “Because… Because I’ve been a dick. No, more than that. I’ve been -  
“You’ve been a grade A asshole to everyone and anyone, now please continue.” That, she means it, and he can hear it.  
“I-, I think you deserve it. You deserve to know the truth. From me. No more lies.”  
She looks at him once more, at his face covered in bruises, his eyes carefully hidden behind his glasses; at him, noticing the fact that he’s not wearing anything heavier than a jacket in this cold, as if he’d left home in a hurry. How many other injuries were hidden under these clothes? Where were they from? How much did it hurt?  
But she must not let this soften her. If she deserves to know the truth, he deserves to get a little of his own medicine, for once.  
“And what do you think I will make of that? Do you think that’ll make me come back? Do you think we can all go back together, you and me, and Foggy, and restart this law firm where we left it? Are you that naïve, Matthew?” She’s almost growling now, she hasn’t raised her tone, but her voice is boiling with all the hurt and anger she’s felt. And is still feeling.  Matt breathes in. He can almost feel the hurt himself. But it’s guilt. Only shame and guilt.  
“No. No, I’m not.” He’d like to be, though. “I just realized…  you ought to know. You deserve to know. Not to atone for what I did to you, but because… because you count for me.  I thought I had to hide it from you for the same reason. But now I see it was… it was…  
“It was a lie. Both to me and yourself.  
“I wanted to protect you.  
“I told you before. I am not yours to protect.”

Karen gets up from the desk, and walks towards him. She gently places the mask back in his hand, and steps back. Far. She watches, biting her lips, as he puts the helmet back in the paper bag he had brought it in, and makes her decision. She has to leave, right now. Or else she’d let things go down a path she doesn’t want anymore. Not yet. Maybe never.

She grabs the purse she had put down on the desk. When she turns to leave, without saying anything, without any explanation, Matt steps aside. He’s not stopping her. He doesn’t bargain or tries to push explanations on her. He lets her go.  
She doesn’t want to ask. She doesn’t want to know. No, she doesn’t. It isn’t burning her lips right now, she needs to leave. She needs to stop looking at him, stop wondering about him.  
She gets as far as the end of the corridor before storming back into the office, slamming the door shut behind her, and turning to a bewildered yet obviously relieved Matt:  
“Oh, goddammit, Matt. How?”

**Author's Note:**

> PS : if you've read my other stuff, YES I DO WRITE THE SAME STUFF OVER AND OVER AGAIN


End file.
